Sex Differences in the Metabolism of Ethanol and Acetaldehyde in Normal Subjects

Abstract

Blood ethanol and acetaldehyde concentrations were compared in normal young male and female subjects, after i.v. infusion of 0.5 g of ethanol/kg body wt. After the infusion was completed, females had significantly higher mean concentrations of blood ethanol than males, but a significantly lower apparent volume of distribution (Vd) of ethanol (0.56 .+-. 0.06 l/kg vs. 0.68 .+-. 0.17 l/kg, P < 0.05). There were no differences in ethanol elimination rate (EER) (females 1.78 .+-. 0.3 mmol h-1 kg-1; males 1.87 .+-. 0.41 mmol h-1 kg-1). The mean value of the areas under the acetaldehyde/time curves (AUC) were significantly greater for males (88.5 .+-. 26.4 .mu.mol/l .cntdot. h) than for females (58.6 .+-. 31.5 .mu.mol/l .cntdot. h, P < 0.05). Since the ethanol elimination rate was similar in both sexes, the observed differences in AUC for acetaldehyde may reflect the sex differences in metabolism of this substrate by the liver.